


Where Were You?

by AvengersFicWriter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Tower, Domestic Avengers, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-14
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-04 14:56:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1783102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvengersFicWriter/pseuds/AvengersFicWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers confront Clint about his absence when they were in trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Were You?

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but way before Avengers: Age of Ultron. So...Cap 2 spoilers ahead.  
> Also, I don't remember every detail from MCU, so some of these facts may be wrong, but I'm too lazy to fact check, so...oh well. It's just a fic; it doesn't need to be accurate.  
> Also also, I wrote this fic around 1 or 2 in the morning, so it's really stupid and short, but yeah.

“WHERE WERE YOU??”

Being yelled at by Natasha Romanoff is not anything to brag about. It’s basically a promise that you are in a bad position and better fix the mess you’ve made. Quickly.

Clint was sitting in the bedroom reserved for him in Stark Tower. Not two minutes after he closed the door behind him, the rest of his team barged in, none of them with pleased faces. “Um...yeah?”

“Yeah? That’s all you’ve gotta say? Yeah?” Tony folded his arms for a moment before letting them hang at their sides again. Clint assumed it was because his chest was still hurting from the arc reactor removal surgery. “Birdbrain, do you have any idea what was going on while you were doing God knows what in God knows where?”

Bruce narrowed his eyes a bit and turned to his friend. “Wait, I thought you were an atheist.”

“That’s not the point!” Tony was obviously worked up about something, but it was Natasha who looked the most angry.

“Any of you care to fill me in? Or am I gonna have to play the guessing game?” The archer sat at the end of his bed, looking at each of his teammates.

Thor, who remained by the door - probably there to stop Clint from leaving, as though he would be dumb enough to try to escape - spoke up with his booming voice. “So you heard nothing of Stark going against the Mandarin near the end of the Midgardian year? Or Jane and I facing off against a Dark Elf who attempted to destroy this realm? Or even the downfall of SHIELD?”

“Don’t forget the Winter Soldier,” Steve added his two cents, but there was a tone of sadness in his voice. Clint knew about the background of the Winter Soldier, and decided against bringing him up in any conversation where Steve was around.

“Look,” Clint sighed, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. “I don’t see why you’re all ganging up on me. I mean, what-what about Banner, huh? What were you doing during all of that, Jolly Green?”

Bruce tried making himself smaller as the others turned to stare at him. It was no secret that Bruce was still on the run from General Ross and his men, but that didn’t technically prevent him from lending a hand. “I-I helped Fury out when he got attacked in DC.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Natasha whipped her head back to Clint. “You hear that? At least he _did_ something. What did you do? Held up at Starbucks getting your non-fat soy white chocolate mocha?”

Tony gave her a questioning look. “That was oddly specific.” She replied with a half-shrug.

“Alright, fine. I don’t see why this matters in the first place.” Clint stood up and glared at each of them...each of them except Natasha. He was smarter than that. “You all got out alive, right? Isn’t that what’s important?”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence that followed his question. The tension in the room was so thick, not even a knife could cut through it. Clint’s eyes settled on the frumpy scientist, pleading that he would back him up.

Clearing his throat, Bruce wrung his hands and focused his gaze on the ground. “He might have a point. If I’ve learned anything from my life, it’s that focusing on the past won’t change the past.” It was a lame excuse, and everyone knew it. Clint was digging his own grave, and all Bruce did was hand him another shovel.

“It doesn’t matter if it was in the past, Banner.” Natasha kept her gaze on her fellow assassin, but addressed Bruce. “The point is that we could have used his help, and he wasn’t there. We don’t even know what he was doing this whole time.”

Clint sighed again, closing his eyes. “Fuck, okay. You all wanna know what I was up to? Why I couldn’t fly in and help you all?”

Steve spread his hands. “Uh, yeah. That’s kinda why we’re all here.”

“Fine.” Clint shifted awkwardly, sliding his hands into his pockets. He looked at each of his teammates, even challenging the scowl of Natasha. “If you really must know, I was fighting off a bunch of other guys.” This statement was met with confused faces, so he continued. “The Mandarin, That elf dude, HYDRA, Winter Soldier, all of those guys you had to deal with? Apparently, they weren’t your only problem. After what happened in New York two years ago, there were people sprouting up who thought they could take on the Avengers. It was my job to fight them off, but without getting into the public’s eyes. Sure, I took care of the minor baddies, but that meant you guys could focus on the real threats without distractions from those wannabes.”

Another pause filled the bedroom as the rest of his teammates exchanged glances. Natasha and Thor looked skeptical, but Bruce, Tony, and Steve looked too tired to question it.

Thor was the one who finally broke the silence. “That is...a fair enough reason.” His voice took on a threatening tone. “However, if we discover that you are lying, it would be wise of you to make yourself invisible for quite some time.”

With that, the group left the room, Tony being the last one out. He began to close the door, but let it open a crack. “You don’t deserve to have your door closed all the way.” He followed the rest of the team down the hall.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Edit 2/29/16: I deleted the last paragraph that revealed that Clint was lying. After some time to think, I think the ending would be better if Clint were telling the truth.


End file.
